Published Under Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship

PUTHALIKA PATRIKA
Sep 2021

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Earth is Great Place to be

 PUTHALIKA PATRIKA
Editors
Padmini Rangarajan
Subhasis Neogi
Arun Bansal

Proof Reading Team

S k Rangarajan

Volume : 2021-10-01-00
Released on Oct 1, 2021
In this Issue
P4-7: Putala Bhaona, A traditional Shadow Puppetry of Odisha State, India
P8-10 :THE HISTORY OF PUPPETRY IN ALGERIA
P11-12: Obituary- Shraddhanjali
P14: Creative Corner
P15-18: Artist of the Month
P19-21: Kadalakkadalas-The Story of the Story-tellers from Kerala
P22:Nature’s Lap

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Published by Registration no 419 of 2005

Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry, Art & Craft-STEPARC
and Social Substance

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www.sphoorthitheatre.blogpost.in
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facebook.com/groups/socialsubstance
 3

Editorial Column
'Siddhantha' and 'Samskaras' were governing force of education system of
ancient India. I was actually taken-a-back while learning about our rich
cultural heritage traditions from a Westerner, who adapted the ancient
teachings and was practicing it. The quest further brought me to quotes of
many scholars and philosophers. I was perplexed after going through the
quote of Aristotle - “Educating the Mind without educating the heart is no
education at all”….how true the saying is. On 1st September 1947, the Indian
Standard Time (IST) was adapted as the official time for the whole country.
However, the 4th or 5th century CE astronomy treatise by our ancient Rishi
Varahamihira the “Surya Siddhantha” gives the reference of Indian Standard
Time corresponding to World Time. Educating the heart comes from
appreciating the artfulness and bountifulness of Mother Nature with
reverence and gratitude that transforms human life in Toto. All the noble
qualities come from learning, appreciating, sharing and teaching the
'Samskaras' which uplifts the spirits and promote mutual reciprocation. Irony
is, all the modern education systems over-looks the same and trains more
towards selfishness and self isolation. All the forms of art that emerged in this
land was appreciated, allowed space for growth by honouring the artists and
nurturing their families…today we are in a stage of not only losing the artists
but also the art-forms itself. Well, on the other hand, some Good Samaritans
are thriving in connecting the mankind back to the cultural roots.

Padmini Rangarajan
 4

The Puppet Tradition of Assam- Part 1

Putala Bhaona
Introduction Rubi Puppet Theatre ,Dakhala, Bijoynagar
Puppetry in Assam is an age
old tradition but it still holds an
insignificant position in the
arena of performing arts. Many
scholars marginalize its
importance by terming
puppetry as a “child's
play”(Dutta, 1986), when we
refer Puppetry with other performing art forms. In his book entitled Folk Toys
of Assam, Dr. Birendranath Dutta has made a systematic survey on the
various folk toys available in Assam and commented on Puppetry as “…a
small scale figure of human or other living beings could legitimately be
included in a study of toys.” Dr. Dutta also talks about how the puppet shows
which were once a very popular entertainment medium in rural Assam have
lost its charm with the advent of the new media as the cinema, the modern
looking theatrical shows etc.
STRING PUPPETS OF ASSAM:
It is believed that the string puppetry of Assam is even older than the 500
years old Vaishnava culture. The accounts and validation collected from all
sources make it clear that apart from string-puppet no other forms of
puppetry like shadow-puppets, rod-puppets, hand or glove-puppets ever
existed in Assam. Some experts however believe that water puppetry existed
 5

A traditional Shadow Puppetry of Odisha State, India

Putala Bhaona
in Assam long before Mahapurush Sankardeva's
birth but it got its due recognition only during his
time. He in a way was the pioneer in developing the
tradition which is now the national heritage of
countries like Vietnam and Cambodia.
The String Puppets of Assam are known as Putula-
Naach, Putula-Bhaona and PutulaBhaoriya.
However some contemporary troupes also use the
term Putula-Theatre- which is a popular folk
entertainment medium in the plains of Assam. The
oldest known troupe of lower Assam is perhaps that of ShriHarikanta
Barman, the octogenarian veteran of Mohkuli village near Nalbari, whose
father is said to have started showing puppets in 1885. A first hand account
collected from sources of NatunKamalabariSattra of Majuli reveals that the
art was first learnt by bhakats(monks) a little over 50 years back from troupe

of puppeteers visiting the Sattra. For whatever may be the reasons puppet-
theatre has been more vigorously active in lower Assam, particularly in
 6

A traditional Shadow Puppetry of Odisha State, India

Putala Bhaona
Kamrup and Magaldai areas where we can not
only find the biggest number of practicing troupes
but also the strongest popular links of the art.
(Dutta 1990)
BELIEF NARRATIVES AND PUPPETRY:
In The Journal of SrimantaSankardeva Research
Institute, Dr. BirendranathDutta has highlighted a
very significant reference from Katha-guru-
carita(early 18th century biography of Vaishnava
saints of Assam) that shadow puppet was
performed at the residence of Sankardeva's
father on the twenty-second day of the birth of
the saint:
“And on the twenty second day tatakiyabajikarstarted manipulating
shadow puppets”
(Arubais dinar dinatatakiyabajikarechayaPutulanocabadhoilehi).
After this practice a myth started evolving in the village and soon it became a
trend to practice puppetry in each of the house where a baby boy was born in
the hope that the new born would also grow up in the footsteps of the saint
Sankardeva. The beliefs and legends associated with this art form travelled
till they were told. But now because of the effect of globalization the art form
itself has undergone many changes thereby losing its rustic touch along with
its contents.
 7

A traditional Shadow Puppetry of Odisha State, India

Putala Bhaona
NOVELTY AND THEATRICALITY:
Assam Puppet Theatre
Traditional PutalaNaachperformances begin Makhibaha, Nalbari

with a Ganesh Bandana song to Lord Ganesha

- the Vignaharta and thus the events are
ritually framed so that they command the
attention of the audience (Narayan Deka
2012). However there are exceptions to this
practice also as we have puppeteers like Sri
BaniKanta Barman and Sri AbaniKantaSarma
who begin their performances with Saraswati Bandana and Nataraj Bandana
respectively. Then the show begins with the story's central character being a
historical figure, but his life has become somewhat embellished and taken on
numerous mythical and political themes throughout the years. Despite the
complexity of the stories, the puppet play's actual plot is rendered secondary
so that it “provides” a “frame” for numerous stock scenes that involve a
variety of characters like musicians depicting different flavours of Assam,
dancers representing our seven states and magical performers (Kothari
1985:2).
--- Article and Photos Submission by Dr. Moushumi Bhattacharjee
Senior Consultant, Dr. Anamika Roy Memorial Trust.
----To be Continued

Photos from Assam Puppet Theatre

Makhibaha, Nalbari
 8

THE HISTORY OF PUPPETRY IN ALGERIA

Algeria or The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (Arabic ,Berber),is a
country in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. it has hosted many
prehistoric cultures and know for a millennium empires and dynasties
The existence of the puppet is proven in Algeria before the 16th century, but
it is confused, in the testimonies, with other kinds of representations. Under
the Ottoman Empire (1533) the shadow theater is identified. Two characters
gradually emerged: King Urtila, symbol of Ottoman domination, and
karakoz, inspired by the famous Turkish Karagoz.in Algeria, the expression
"Karakoz Theater" moreover refers most of the time to the puppet theater in
general.
French colonization (1830-1962) popularized the technique of the hand
puppet .Guignol entered Algeria and the country experienced a
"guignolization" of the art of puppetry to counter the influence of the karagoz
 9

THE HISTORY OF PUPPETRY IN ALGERIA

on the one hand, and that of Ghendja on the
other. Ghandja was a winning puppet considered
a fetish to bring back the rain and ensure fertility
for women, and a key figure of Algerians. The
French hero opposed to him by the authorities
was quickly turned away and one could attend
small spectacles of Guignol militant in an indirect
way against the French presence.in
Constantine(1862),in kabylia ,in oranie,(1880)
in biskra ,the first troops of puppeteers
appeared, modest but fairly well structured.
This period was hardly favorable to shadow
theater since the French authorities banned its performances in 1843 after
realizing its role in opposition to colonization and impact on public opinion.
The changes that Algeria went through with independence in 1962 greatly
affected the art of puppetry. this was put at the service of a certain
postcolonial pedagogy .Avery popular television program(El Hadika Sahira
,with means the enchanted forest) will give the
art of puppetry a national footing. Problems of
priority ,mentality ,politics, spirituality have
meant that this art has barely begun to emerge
from the rut since the beginning of the 2000s.A
certain thrill is duo to companies geared towards
young audiences .they all most all practice as
amateurs…
The Aladdin Company of Sidi-Bel-Abebes city
which also houses the Ghandja puppet Museum
which contains more than 500 puppets from
 10

THE HISTORY OF PUPPETRY IN ALGERIA

around the world and the headquarters of UNIMA Algeria is professional.
Noureddine Douila and Kada Benchemissa are noted directors. They run
training workshops, produce shows and participate in festivals in the word.
Thus, there is only one festival which takes place in Ain temouchent each year
and all participate in this festival.
----Article and Photos by Khadidja Ben-redouane Algeriers
 11

Obituary- Shraddhanjali
Late Mothe family
Pandemic has hit hard on the traditional art performers all across the globe.
Our deepest condolence to all the noble departed souls connected with
puppetry and allied arts. It is indeed sad to known the depart of the best
traditional puppeteers, the contemporary performers, research scholars and
good will promoters of the traditional art form across the globe. The year

2021 has hard hit on The traditional 'Mothe' family troupe of Ammapuram,
Nerametta Mandal, present Jangoan District, Telangana State known for
'Chekka Bommalatta or Koyya Bomalatta' –wooden string puppet play and
'Vedhi Bhagavatham' or 'Yakshganam' –folk theatre play is in a paralyzed
state. Mothe families toured all over India and have performed with their
heavy string puppets and folk theatre play. Very sad to share the senior most
traditional puppeteers Mothe Ramaswamy age 80 years passed away at
Burugupeta, followed by Mothe Narasaiah 75 years, Mothe Narasaiah 67
years and another family member Mothe Chandraiagh 63 years left us
behind with wonderful memories of puppet plays and folk theatre plays.
 12

Obituary- Shraddhanjali

Ms. Sampa Ghosh-Puppeteer and Author

Ms. Sampa Ghosh, fondly called by all as Sampa 'Didi' (elder sister).She was
in fact an elder sister to many of the puppeteers. It was the time of a great
interaction with her during her visit to Hyderabad in 2003-2004, that she
gave a very broad outlook about the Puppetry
art and encouraged me too to take up
qualitative research work in Educational
Puppetry. Pleasant interactions, morale
support and timely encouragement have
shaped me as an Educational Puppeteer. She
breathe her last on September 1st, 2021. She
served at Centre for Cultural Resources and
Training (CCRT), New Delhi. She was a
disciple of Shri Suresh Dutta –a renowned
puppeteer of India and Padmashree Shri Dadi
Padumjee- President of UNIMA World. A recipient of Ministry of Culture's
Young Scholarship in 1980 and a Ministry of Culture's Senior Fellowship in
2001 and had started a website named Indian Puppetry –a directory.
However, this website is no more in fuction. Her contribution to Indian
Puppetry is invaluable and highly appreciable. She authored books on
puppetry and puppet making namely: -'Make your own Puppet' 2005 for
beginners in 2005, 'Indian Puppets' in 2006 and 'Puppet Stories' in 2007.
On behalf of Puppeteers family all across the world, we pray for a peaceful
journey to the eternal world and bless us to be connected and work towards
the preservation of tangible and intangible arts forms selflessly. OM!
SHANTHI!!
 13

Obituary- Shraddhanjali

GURU KOLHA CHARAN SAHOO

Born in 1936 in Odash in the state of Odiasha Guru Kolha charan Sahoo
started his career as a government servant and entered the field of shadow
puppetry under the guidance of the late Guru Kathi Nanda Das, a master
practitioner of Ravan Chhaya who bagged
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1978.
He had excelled in this art form of puppet
theatre belonging to Odisha and had
performed with his puppets all over India
and countries like South Korea and
Malayasia. He was an active participant in
the National Puppet theatre Festivals
organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi in
1978, 1995,2000 and 2003 and the
puppet theatre workshops in 1988, 1991,
1997 and 1998. He had been the president
and Guru of Ravan Chhaya Natya Sansada since 1986 and had been
imparting Ravan Chhaya training to the youngsters. He had also published a
book on Ravan Chhaya titled” Ravan Chhaya : Its creation , existence and
development”.
He had received many awards including Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award (1998), The Bhanja Kala Parishada Award in 1997 and Utkal Yuva
Parishada Award in 1997.
For his lifelong contribution to Ravan Chhaya he was also bestowed with the
prestigious Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1998.
 14

Creative Corner:

Use the given symbol/ figure as a reference

and complete a meaningful picture

This is open for kids between the age group of 5 to 14 years.

Use the symbol/ figure as a reference and complete a meaningful picture.

(Free to use colour pencils, crayons or paints)

Post the completed pictures and give full details:

Name, Parent/s name, Age of the child, Class, School

Contact number to [email protected]

The best three winners will be awarded and best six will be issued e-Certificate.
 15

Shri Ajit Jha –Folklore Singer and Actor

Artist of the Month

In ancient and classical India,
the area that is now present
Bihar State of India was once
considered a centre of power,
learning, and culture. Bihar is
culturally divided into three
sub regions- Maghadh,
Bhojpur and Mithila. Mithila ,
also known as Tirhut and
Tirabhukti, is bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the
south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothills of the Himalayas in
the north. It comprises certain parts of Bihar and Jharkhand of India and
adjoining districts of the eastern Terai of Nepal. Shri Ajit Jha belongs to
Bhatsimar Village of Madhubhani district of Mithila region. Ajit Jha says with
pride that ‘It is the land of Janak Maharaj and Mother Sita. It was the sweet
words ‘Madur bani’ (vani) that she spoke with all became to be known as
‘Maddhubhani’. Mithila is well known for music, dance and folk plays known
as ‘Lok Natak’ from ages. ‘One can find the folklore and folk music
compositions signifying the nature’s connectivity with the mankind right
from the birth to death’- opines Ajit.
As a child, Ajit was attracted towards the folk instruments that his uncle Shri
Narsingh Jha who was a good singer and a musician. He uses to play like
Dolak, Tabla and harmonium. He gave the initial training of vocal music to Ajit
at the age of 4 years. Shri Narayana Paswan an folk artist initiated Ajit about
the folk music at the age 8 years at his place. At the age of 13-14 years he
 16

Artist of the Month

then got trained under Shri Mahendra Malangiya a well known for Lok Natya
and internationally known Mithili Natak for 5-6 years. After completing his
B.A in Hindi Honors, he moved towards reviving ‘Mithila’ Folklore and Folk
music. Then he was fortunate to get national scholarship under Ministry of
Culture received training under Shri Suman Kumar Dy secretary of Sangeet
Natak Academy, India ‘Kalamandali’ troupe. He has attended around 15 or
more workshops organized by Sangeet Natak Acdemy in music, dance,
theatre, folk and so on. 2014-2015-Diploma in Theatre from Mithila
University. 2016-2018 he learnt Hindusthani classical of ‘Garbhanga
Gharana’ from Sangeet Vidwan Pandit Vinay Shastry.
In 2014, Ajit started his group named ‘Maryada Sanskriti Sansthan’ in New
Delhi to promote Mithila culture among youth. Today, the troupe has regular
members of 8 women and 10 men. They trained youth in Delhi, Bihar and
other places in theatre, folk music, folk dance, Along with the ‘Maryada
Sanskriti Sansthan’ Ajit has performed at various places in Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and other.
‘Most of the folk music and songs are forgotten due to filmy geet. Now I am
documenting the same through constant travelling so that we could preserve
at least the rest of them’- cries Ajit.
Mithila Folk Music comprises of ‘Sohar geet’- the songs sung during
 17

Artist of the Month

auspicious moments of celebrations, ‘Samudoun geet’ or ‘Bidhaai geet’-sung

during wedding and when the bride leaves her parental house after wedding,
‘Bhada Masa’- one very elaborative song describing about all the 12 months
known as ‘Bharon Mahine ka varnan’, ‘Chaitravar geet’- sonsg about Chaitra
masa, the first month and is the harvesting time, ‘Sanja-Parathi’- dawn to
dusk songs for every event of celebrations. ‘We also sing many sonsg written
and composed by the great poet shri Vidya Pathi. They are known as Vidya
Pathi’s songs that are sung and included in daily prayers too’-reveals Ajit.
Under Folk Dance known as Lok Nrutya-‘Jijiya Jarani’ is very famous. It is a
dance performed to keep the spell of evil eyes effecting the children as they
grow and this performance protects them from spell of evil eyes effects which
is our belief’-exclaims Ajit. ‘Sama Chakeba’- A bamboo baskets is carried
with a pair of clay idols, representing birds-traditionally known as Sama and
Chakeba or Chekeva in folklore and representing the start of nine-days of
festivity celebrated in Mithilanchal, which is dedicated to the affectionate
brother-sister relationship. The celebrations also mark the arrival of colourful
birds on the plains during winter from the Himalayas. "We used to listen to
 18

Artist of the Month

folk songs, which were sung in every nook and corner of the streets at dusk in
our locality. As of now, it's not quite common”-says Ajit. There is a character
known as ’Chugla’ known as Jester or so. This is also made out of clay and
additional hay is added as feature like long bread kind. After the ritualistic
ceremony, the Chugla-Chuguli statues are set fire and the sama chekeva are
immersed in the river water or in the farming field
Folk Theatre known as Lok Natya-‘Raja Salhes’- is very famous that exhibits
‘veer rasa’. It is the the story of the local deities. It is performed for 6 days for
5 hours every day. It starts in the late night around 11 pm and goes till early
morning 5 am. ’Hirani-Bhirani’ story of twin sisters is also famous folk theatre
play. ‘Ram Leela’- for one month. Performance done from Birth of Sri Ram to
Sita’s last stage’. ‘Alaha Udal’- a ‘veer rasa’ performance and ‘Virapat’-
krishna and Radha-Rasya Natya by 13-14 performances on stage
performing, It is mix of dialogues and song compositions. Ajit knows to play
Tabla, Dolak, Manjeera and Harmonium insttuments. Now he directs both
folk theatrical and other kinds of plays in Hindi and Mithili languages. He also
does corporate events too to earn his livelihood. ‘I am making efforts that I
can to save my region’s culture and tradition’ –concludes Ajit Jha.
 19

Nishi Menon Geetha Ananth Anitha Ranjit

Smitha Nair Sangeetha Racika Raman

Ninoj Abraham

Kadalakkadalas-The Story of the Story-tellers from Kerala

Kadala or kappalandi - meaning roasted peanuts in Malayalam. Roasted

peanuts the perfect snack to munch on when friends and family come
together to exchange gossips and stories. What happens to those paper
cones when emptied ofpeanuts? Some crumple them up and throw away. A
few unfurl them to discover interesting stories within, old and new, from far
and near. That is what we at Kadalakkadalas do – tell stories. Interestingly,
'kadalas' also refered to a piece of paper. Thus, we the storyteelers from
Kerala identified this as our group name Kadalakkadalas. We go with the
same page name on Facebook, we tell stories in Malayalam to children and
adults, about Kerala's culture, myths, and people.
 20

Kadalakkadalas-The Story of the Story-tellers from Kerala

Kadalakkadalas was born
during the lockdown last
year. We – Racika, an
academic trainer, Nishi and
Sangeetha, both teachers,
S m i t h a , a n e d u c a t o r,
Geetha Ananth, a bank
professional, Ninoj
Abraham, a software
engineer, and Anitha, a homemaker – had come together to attend a
beginner's workshop for story-telling, just before the pandemic started.
While sitting confined to our homes during the first lock down, we thought of
ways to nourish and nurture this newly picked up skill, and thus this Face
book page was born on July 2020.
Besides the seven of us, so far more than 50 story enthusiasts have come to
our platform with their stories, including children. Today, one year and more
than 130 stories old, we can see that the past year has helped us become
more aware of our own state's rich culture and literature. We've had a series
of stories based on Kerala's folklore, followed by stories of selected poems by
popular poets. The enthusiastic response to this segment prompted us to
conduct a Kavitha Sandhya – an evening of poetry – on our first anniversary,
where a few of us recited poems. Next, we graduated to conducting our first
live event a week ago – a recital of selected portions from Adhyatma
Ramayanam, written by Thunchath Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam
language.
The growth of Kadalakkadalas has brought each of us an unforeseen chance
to learn a new skill and to hone the latent talents, besides story-telling.
 21

Kadalakkadalas-The Story of the Story-tellers from Kerala

Smitha manages the page,
responding promptly to the
newsworthy events in the
Malayalam literary and cultural
world, by creating posters with
write ups. Racika is the brain
behind the scenes, constantly
coming up with new ideas to keep
us going. Ninoj Abraham has
evolved as a visual story teller.
Besides designing the logo,
hecomes up with apt titles and illustrations suited to each theme. Geetha, a
trained classical singer, gives music to our title songs and poems. The artist in
Nishi gave life to a painting which shines as the profile picture of our page.
Anitha and Sangeetha edit/trim the videos. The exposure through
Kadalakkadalas brought in another bonus to Anitha – she is now a
story/script writer and translator
for Tiger Comics.
An interesting question often
crosses our minds – would all this
have happened if there was no
pandemic? It is doubtful. Though
the virus had kept us confined to
our homes, Kadalakkadalas turned out to be a silver line that emerged from
that dark cloud to our lives.
Hoping for much more connectivity with other storytellers over Kadala
Kadala-Roasted peanuts
 22
Nature’s Lap

Clicking photographs is not mere a hobby or time pass nowadays. It is full length
profession with much implications in research and scientific studies. Smart phones
with cameras have become handy and people have started recognizing their utility.
I am one of those. I keep on walking and searching earth & sky to satisfy my inner
core.
Clockwise pics: 1. Rains are opportunity and I click the reflections. 2. The baby
squirrel fell from above, possibly under attack by some predator 3. Damsel Flies
mating 4. Lemon Emigrant Butterfly, mud puddling 5. A moth with beautiful
pattern 6. Budgerigar, the beautiful prisoner
I wish you will cherish the above and share more with us at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/naturalbiodiversity Dr. Arun Bansal
 23
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contribute articles for Puthalika Patrika Puppetry
News Magazine

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Published by
Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry, Art & Craft-STEPARC
and Social Substance

[email protected]
www.sphoorthitheatre.com
www.sphoorthitheatre.blogpost.in
facebook.com/puppetnewsmagazine
facebook.com/groups/socialsubstance